Wide area communication systems are known to comprise a central controller, a plurality of remote sites, a plurality of subscriber units, a plurality of repeaters and site controllers, a plurality of remote site communication links, and a plurality of communication resources. Wide area communication systems are controlled by the central controller, which is connected to each remote site by the remote site links. The central controller processes each call request from subscriber units received by the site controllers and allocates communication resources for the call at each site that needs to be included in the call. In addition, the central controller maintains a status of each subscriber unit and the subscriber unit's functional capabilities.
When a subscriber unit is affiliated with a remote site in the wide area communication system, the user of the subscriber unit is not aware of other users within close proximity that are available for communication and/or assistance purposes. Presently, if the user of the subscriber unit needed physical assistance, the user would have to either make a private call to each known user in the system one at a time to find out their location or the user needing assistance would have to make a group call to each known talkgroup to find the location of affiliated users in the wide area system. While these methods work, they are very time consuming and inefficient.
Therefore, a need exists for a method that provides a user of a subscriber needing assistance to identify a user of a subscriber unit in the wide area communication system that is in close proximity that is efficient and has a quick response time.